


or i could steal a car

by crooked



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-31
Updated: 2010-08-31
Packaged: 2017-10-11 09:25:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/110871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crooked/pseuds/crooked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the middle of the night, and Sirius is restless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	or i could steal a car

**Author's Note:**

> [original post](http://crooked.livejournal.com/239808.html) @ livejournal.

It's the middle of the night, and Sirius is restless. The feeling is nothing new, especially as of late, but this time he feels like he's going to burst if he doesn't _do something_ about it. So, naturally, he ends up in James' living room.

He sees a figure spread out on the sofa, a bowl of cheese and onion crisps balanced on its stomach, staring at the flickering images on the telly - but it's not James, as he expects.

"Oi, Sirius," Lily says, setting the bowl aside and pushing herself up into a sitting position. "What the hell are you doing here? It's the middle of the night!" She pauses, eyes going wide, and he can see her shift into panic mode. "Is everything okay? Where's Remus?"

"Everything's fine," Sirius replies, trudging over to the couch. He flops down, head ending up in Lily's lap and his legs dangling over the arm of the sofa. Lily rolls her eyes but drops a hand to Sirius' hair anyway, petting it softly. He grins because Lily almost always gives into his whims, even if she constantly goes on about it being _the last time, Sirius, I mean it_.

Lily looks down at him, pursing her lips to the side and frowning at him. "Well, what is it? I know you were expecting James, but Princess Prongs is fast asleep and you know how that goes. So tell me."

"I just have to get the bloody fuck _out_ of London," he moans, glancing over at the telly. Lily's watching some old gangster movie from the 1940s, from the looks of it, and he knows there was a reason why he let James keep her.

"Don't we all," she commiserates, and Sirius realises that if anyone needs to get away, it's her and James. Still, that doesn't satisfy the bone-deep itch he has to jump on the back of his motorbike and leave. His motorbike, however, had different plans when he went to kick-start the engine. She sputtered and sighed, and that was it. He pleaded with Lola (Remus rolls his eyes whenever he hears Sirius call her that), but she didn't respond. Too frustrated to do anything but curse and punch at the air, Sirius decided the next best thing was to find someone with access to Muggle transportation.

Lily tugs at Sirius' ear, and he realises he'd not been paying attention. "What?"

"I asked you what you wanted me to do about it," she repeated, going back to idly running her fingers through his hair. "It's not like I can turn this couch into a car for you."

"No," Sirius says slowly, thinking back to the one time he'd actually tried just that. Remus' sofa had wheeled around the living room for a week. "But you can give me the address of that uptight prick your sister's dating, and I can borrow his car for a bit."

Lily laughs, shaking her head at Sirius until she realises he's, well, serious. "You are not actually suggesting I become an accomplice to your crimes, are you?" He flashes her a grin that confirms that very thing. "No, Sirius. _No_. Vernon's car is his baby. He'd kill me. He'd kill you, and then he'd kill me."

"Aw, c'mon, Lils," Sirius says, reaching up to pull gently at the end of her long poytail. "He'll never even know! A few well-placed charms here and there, and he'd be none the wiser. Now, if he actually tries to _get_ in the car, we'd have a problem. But we can cross that bridge when we come to it."

Lily looks down at Sirius sceptically, but he can tell her resolve is breaking. He continues with the hard sell. "It's not like you even like that brute," he says, frowning to express his own dislike - not that he's met him. "This is your chance to stick it to him. And don't you think Moony deserves a few hours of… of, y'know, anything other than this shit?"

That does it; Lily has a soft spot for Remus like nobody's business. She rolls her eyes, likely, Sirius thinks, because she knows he's thrown that in to win her over. (That's only part of the reason, though, because it's mostly that he truly believes the words.) "I hate you, Sirius Black," she mutters, and her grin completely belies the statement. "Get off me, you stupid bastard, so I can write down Dursley's address for you."

Sirius happily complies, practically dancing as he follows Lily into the kitchenette. "I love you, too, Evans," he says fondly, grinning at the way she sticks her tongue out at him. "Just don't tell Prongs, yeah? I don't think he would cope very well if he knew about us."

Lily jots down an address and passes the scrap of paper to Sirius. "When the kid comes out smelling of wet dog, don't you think he'll finally cotton on?" she teases, rubbing at the barely-there swell of her belly.

Sirius grabs her, kisses her on the cheek and then pats her stomach gently. "We've got seven months to figure that one out, my dear. For now, I've got a werewolf to sweep off his feet."

*

With a pop, Sirius Apparates straight into Remus' bedroom. "UP!" he yells at the mass curled into a ball beneath the coverlet. The figure jumps, brandishing his wand as he throws the bedclothes back, eyes wide and hair wild.

"Oh, _FUCK_," Remus breathes out, clutching at his chest as he lowers his wand. Sirius just grins at him, pulling on the chain that turns on the single light bulb hanging over Remus' smallish bed. "I could've killed you, you fucker! What are you— What time is it!?"

"I dunno, one o'clock," Sirius says, though it sounds like he's asking Remus rather than telling him.

"One o'_fucking_ clock? What the HELL is wrong with you!"

Sirius ducks his head out from behind Remus' wardrobe door, a pair of denims wrapped around his neck. "Road trip, Moony! Now man the fuck up and go clean your teeth."

*

By two o'clock, Sirius and Remus are on the road. The car theft goes smoothly, despite Remus' protests once he finds out exactly what they're doing. (_'Stealing a bloody car, Sirius?_ Really!? _Fuck, I hope James can make bail.'_) His tune changes a little when Sirius slips behind the wheel, revving the engine so that it growls softly at Remus. (_'… well. Fine. Just a quick jaunt down the road. Cambridge at the very farthest. Okay. Birmingham, but that's absolutely it.'_)

They take turns driving, Remus taking the wheel first because Sirius doesn't drive very well in the city, and it would be rather hard to flee the scene of the crime if they were crashing into every parked car on the way out of London. And the getaway car needs to be in good shape if it's going to get them very far.

Sirius wakes up to Remus poking him in the side, the sun just peeking over the horizon. He isn't sure if it's the sleep still in his eyes or the sunrise, but everything is washed in a soft, golden haze. He sits up, scrubbing a hand over his face, and looks over at Remus. He's pulled the car off to the side of the road, stretching his arms over his head and giving a little yawn.

"Where are we?" Sirius asks, one eye shut to the growing brightness of the sun.

Remus pushes the heavy door open, walking around the front of the car and over to the passenger side. "Manchester. S'your turn to drive since, you know, you've been asleep this entire bloody time."

Sirius reaches up and cranks the convertible top down. "Aw, you're cranky when you're tired," he says with a grin, opening the door and stretching his long frame out of the car. He grabs Remus before he can get in, kissing his nose. "S'very cute, you know."

"Oh, just shut the fuck up and drive," Remus grumbles, but Sirius catches the hint of a grin he tries to hide with a forced yawn.

*

Sirius drives until he runs out of road, ending up at the dunes in Ainsdale. It's still just an hour or two after sunrise, so nothing's bloody open yet. He doesn't even have plans; he just has a wallet full of Muggle notes and a boy asleep on his shoulder. Not wanting to wake Remus up just to sit there and wait for the town to wake up, Sirius drives off-road to an area where they're hidden from prying eyes. He's sure he's not meant to be there at all, much less in a car, but he's never been one for rules.

He cuts the engine and glances over at Remus, who is still fast asleep. Sirius can't see him properly, so he carefully reaches up and angles the rearview mirror so that he sees a sliver of his face in it. He grins at the sight, relaxing a bit in the seat after checking the side mirror to make sure no-one's followed them.

They sit like that for minutes uncounted, Sirius' arm slung around Remus' shoulders as he dozes. Sirius hasn't had as much time to just think in Merlin knows how long, and he's beginning to remember why he isn't very fond of the process in the first place.

His mind has wandered to every possible subject under the sun — Lily and James becoming parents (PARENTS!); Peter distancing himself more and more from the group; the losses the Order has sustained, or more accurately, the _friends_ and colleagues they've lost — but it seems to linger on one subject more than any other: Remus.

Remus. Remus and his smile when he stays over and wakes Sirius up with soft kisses _everywhere_. Remus' flat he refuses to give up for reasons quite unknown to Sirius. The way Remus' skin feels and tastes beneath his hands and tongue, the sounds he makes when they're pressed together, limbs tangled, sweat-slick skin slipping and sliding as they rock. The missions Remus has to go on that last longer each time, from hours to days to two weeks, with only the briefest of notes to let Sirius know he's still alive. How they've started keeping secrets when everything was once an open book. The distance he can feel slowly growing between the two of them. The overwhelming sense of dread he feels creeping up on him, nearly suffocating him on those restless nights.

Sirius feels a shift beside him, and it knocks him out of his reverie. He looks beside him and Remus has snaked his arm around his stomach, snuggling closer until Sirius is pushed against the car door. Despite the uncomfortable, dark place his thoughts had taken him, Remus has the ability to make him forget he ever had a single doubt. Sirius sighs and kisses the crown of his head; they're not perfect, never have been, and it's been a struggle to make it work since damn near day one. But he's heard somewhere, from someone far wiser than him, that anything worth keeping is worth fighting for.

Remus shifts again, kissing at Sirius' neck before sitting up, a sleepy grin on his face. Sirius reaches out and curls a hand at the back of his neck, pulling Remus in for a slow, soft kiss, tongues just barely touching. Remus slips his hand over Sirius' knee, running his palm just up his thigh as he sighs into their kiss. When they break apart, Remus is breathless and he has a smirk on his face that Sirius is proud to say he's inherited from him over the years. Remus pulls at Sirius' shirt, lifting it over his head and straddling his lap in one motion, wedging himself between Sirius' body and the steering wheel. He blushes (because even when he is the one doing the seducing Remus can't help it) and lifts his own shirt off, dropping it over Sirius' shoulder and into the backseat.

Yeah, Sirius decides as their lips crash together again, he'll keep (and fight for) Remus for just about as long as he can hold onto him.


End file.
